Defense of the Kelly Cup Starts Friday

Fort Wayne, IN –The Komets finished the 2021-2022 regular season with a weekend sweep of Wheeling. The club finished the regular season in second place in the Central Division, with a record of 40-25-6-1. The Nailers will be the Komets' first-round opponent in the Kelly Cup playoffs that begins this Friday at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum starting at 8:00 p.m. Game two of the best-of-seven series with be played in Fort Wayne on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The Komets won the season series with Wheeling 7-1-2. 

Final ECHL regular season standings

Komets End-of-Season Award Winners

Kelly Cup Playoff Schedule  

Last week’s results

Fri. 4/15 at Wheeling  FW 2 – WHL 1 W

Sat. 4/16 vs Wheeling FW 5 – WHL 0 W

About last week –  Friday, the Komets traveled to WesBanco arena in Wheeling, West Virginia. After a scoreless first period, defenseman Zach Tolkinen put the Komets on the board with his third goal of the season at 14:15 of the second period. Oliver Cooper netted a shorthanded goal at 19:33, with an assist from rookie Mark Rassell to put the Komets up 2-0 after two periods. The Nailers cut the lead back to one goal when Sam Houde scored at 5:32 of the third period. Komet goaltender Sam Harvey secured the one-goal lead, making seven saves in the final stanza to solidify the win. 

Back at the Coliseum on Saturday, the Komets again faced the Nailers in the regular-season finale and came away with a convincing 5-0 win. Captain Anthony Petruzzelli scored a shorthanded goal at 5:37 of the first period to open the scoring, followed by Shawn Szydlowski scoring his 11th goal of the season at 10:13. Jordan Martell scored his first professional goal at 2:15 of the second period. The rookie added another marker at 15:11 of the third. The scoring concluded with a strike from Mark Rassell at 18:55 of the final period, giving him his first professional goal. Sam Harvey made 29 saves in the shutout.

Komet streaks- The Komets have killed 16 straight power plays.

Komet leaders —

KOMETS SEASON LEADERS

POINTS:  Will Graber  83

GOALS:   Anthony Petruzzelli 27

ASSISTS:  Will Graber 57

PP GOALS: Anthony Petruzzelli  9

SH GOALS: Oliver Cooper  5

GW GOALS:  Shawn Boudrias, Will Graber, Kellen Jones, Anthony Petruzzelli 4

SHOTS:  Will Graber 176

PIM:  Oliver Cooper 96

+/- :  Will Graber 37

Icing the puck —   The Komets have an all-time record of 42-15-9 versus Wheeling. The Nailers are winless at the Coliseum this season. The Komets ended the regular season with six shutouts, with three belonging to Sam Harvey. Will Graber became the 8th Komet to win the league scoring title (26g, 57a, 83pt) Other scoring champs include; Len Thornson (’61-’62, ’63-’64, ’66-’67), Bobby Rivard (’65-‘66), Terry McDougall (’78-’79), Wally Schreiber (’83-’84), Lonnie Loach (’90-’91), Brandon Marino (’13-’14) and Shawn Szydlowski (’17-’18). Graber joined Pete Wyrot (’55-’56), Art Stone (’56-’57), Len Thornson (’58-’59, ’61-’62, ’63-’64, ’66-’67), Bobby Rivard (’65-’66) Bruce Boudreau (’90-’91), Colin Chaulk (’04-’05), Brandon Marino (’13-’14) as the only Komets to lead the league in assists. Graber also led the ECHL with a +37 rating. The last Komet to lead the league in goals scored was Rob Motz (’83-’84). Zach Tolkinen and Anthony Petruzzelli played in all 72 regular-season games. Petruzzelli has played in 251 consecutive regular-season games with the Komets and led the team in goals scored with 27. On Saturday, the Komets win was the 100th victory for head coach Ben Boudreau. Saturday, Joe Masonius finished the game with 31 penalty minutes, the most in one game by a Komet this season. 

This week—The Komets host the Wheeling Nailers on Friday (8:00 PM) and Saturday (7:30 PM)

See Komets Schedule 

See Komets Roster

Komet hockey on WOWO-- Fans can follow the action with Shane Albahrani broadcasting play-by-play on WOWO AM 1190 and FM 107.5. Game broadcasts are also streamed live at Komets.com. 

Get Komet Tickets—Tickets are available for games one and two of the Kelly Cup Playoffs at the Memorial Coliseum ticket office and Ticketmaster.com